December 2016 Newsletter

First Service in A-frame

After many months of praying, working, and waiting, we are officially in our new facility! We held our first worship service at the A-frame building on Sunday, November 27th, and it was a joyous    occasion. Our new building is located at 12469 NM-14 Scenic, Sandia Park, NM 87047. We can be found immediately south of Sandia Crest Road and Frost Road, across from the Shell gas station.

Our new building consists of the main worship area (pictured below), a nursery for infants to 23 months old (pictured left), a classroom for children ages 2 to kindergarten (pictured right), and a second classroom for children in 1st grade through 5th grade.

Beginning Sunday,  December 4th, we will be offering two different worship service times. Our early worship service will begin at 8:30am with coffee fellowship at 8am, and our late worship service will begin at 10:30am with coffee fellowship at 10am.

We are so thankful that God has chosen to provide us with this new facility. We hope to be a shining light for Christ in the East Mountains as we minister to the community around us.

BAIR Foundation Christmas Gifts

Jen Bartz is collecting gift cards and monetary donations to provide Christmas gifts for the foster families working with the BAIR Foundation. Please consider purchasing a gift card/certificate for a foster family to enjoy family time this Christmas. The goal is to provide each foster family that BAIR serves with a gift certificate of some kind so the whole family can be blessed. They serve approximately 40 families. Think of each family as being about 4 people.

The following are some gift ideas: Hinkle Family Fun Center, Cliff’s Amusement Park, ABQ Surf N’ Slide, Main Event, Dave and Busters, ABQ BioPark, Explora Science Museum, Stone Age Climbing Gym, Gravity Park, Museum admission tickets, restaurants, movie tickets, and Christmas Joy tickets.

You can make monetary donations of any amount that can be pooled together to get a bigger gift card. Jen is also putting together about 20 foster agency worker gifts. Donations made by check can be written out to The Forgotten Initiative with “Albuquerque” in the memo line.

Please give donations to Jen Bartz by December 4th.

Ministry Spotlight

STORM Puppet Ministry: Gayle DeRose

S.T.O.R.M. stands for “Saved in the Truth Of Righteousness and Mercy” (based off of Psalm 85) and was born 9 years ago when a group of 3rd graders, middle schoolers, and high schoolers committed to learning puppetry and practicing every Sunday after church for 2 hours. We have seen lots of spiritual growth in our team members. We have laughed, cried, prayed and worshiped together, put together some awesome puppet performances, and have grown in our relationships with Jesus Christ as we open our Bibles together every week. Best of all, we have “Been witnesses for Jesus Christ” and performed many times throughout the city of Albuquerque and the surrounding areas through which many people, young and old, have found new life in Jesus: Joy Junction Homeless Shelter, Albuquerque Rescue Mission, Angel Tree Christmas parties, Wings Christmas parties, Grants Women's Facility, churches, and competitions at regional puppet festivals.

I have been witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through puppets for over 20 years. I give God all the glory for the many lives touched through puppets. In 2008 and 2010, I was sent to Hoima, Uganda to teach and enable the children at the Blessed Mustard Seed Babies Home how to reach others through puppets. In 2014, I was called to Singapore and Indonesia to teach and enable churches to witness Jesus through puppets.

Currently, we are a team of 8, preparing to step out and perform “Cowboy Christmas,” a 30-minute production, this Christmas season. We covet your prayers: for hearts open to receive the gospel, health of puppeteers, good travel weather, and a covering of the Holy Spirit. “Cowboy Christmas” will be performed on Sunday, 12/18, at our church, 4:30pm-6pm. Please attend and invite your friends and neighbors!

Steps for Reserving A-frame

If you would like to hold an event at the A-frame, we ask that you fill out the request form located on our church website, www.vistagrandechurch.com. The A-frame Request Form can be found by clicking on the “Calendar” tab and it is located below the calendar. Filling out this form will ensure that the building  doesn’t get overbooked on any date/time for a specific room in the building. Once we receive your request, your event/s will be added to the church calendar and your date/time will be reserved. Once your date/time is reserved, you will receive an email from the church office with your event’s details as confirmation of your reservation.

Please be sure to check the calendar for building availability before submitting a request. An event may already be on the calendar for the date/time you are requesting but it may be at a different location or in a different room at the building. Events will have the location listed when they are hovered over or clicked on. Events taking place at the A-frame will be listed as being held at “Church building: Worship area,” “Church building: Classroom,” “Church building: All areas,” etc.

We thank you for your patience and grace as we implement this new process! Please contact vgc.adassistant@gmail.com with any questions/concerns.

December Calendar Event Details

· Dec 4, 11, 18—Worship Services, 8:30am and 10:30am @ church building, coffee fellowship 8am and 10am

· Dec 4—BAIR Foundation Christmas donations due!

· Dec 4, 11—Youth Service, 5pm-7pm @ church building

· Dec 7, 14, 21—Prayer Meeting, 5:30pm-6:30pm @ church building

· Dec 10—Vista Sisters Breakfast, 8:30am-10:30am @ Kings’ house

· Dec 10—Youth Special Events, Girls Night In: 3pm-7pm @ EMC, Guys Night In: 3pm-7pm @ Hardings’ house

· Dec 11—VGC Annual Meeting, 1:30pm-2:30pm @ church building

· Dec 14—Feed the Kids, 10am-12pm @ First Baptist Church Tijeras

· Dec 18—STORM Puppet Show, 4:30pm-6pm @ church building

· Dec 18—Youth Service, 5pm-7pm @ EMC

· Dec 24—Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 5:30pm-6:30pm @ church building

· Dec 25—Christmas Service, 10:30am @ church building

November 2016 Newsletter

A-frame Update

The renovations on the  A-frame are nearly complete and we are planning to have our first service in our new facility in November! 

 

Thank you to all who have prayed over this process, have given financially, and have helped with the renovations at the building. A special thank you to Jim Brown, Manny Montano, and Jimmie Norris for volunteering their time, skills, and efforts to oversee the whole process as the project leaders. 

 

Countless hours of hard work went into making the A-frame our new place of worship. In mid-June, we finally received all of the permits we needed in order to begin demolition and renovations. Since then, we have taken down walls, rewired electricity, removed flooring, put up new walls, painted the  interior and exterior, added new plumbing, put in new windows, cleaned up the exterior, made countless trips to trash disposal, and many other tasks.

 

Before the flooring was installed, the members and regular attendees of Vista Grande Church were encouraged to stop by the A-frame to write Scripture or a prayer on the floor. This was a special opportunity to involve the entire church body in one more activity before our new facility received its final touches and cover our new worship area in prayer and Scripture. 

 

Our first worship service at the A-frame is scheduled for Sunday, November 13th, with a special dedication service scheduled for Sunday, November 20th. 

 

Youth Ministry Update

For the month of October, we have covered the topics of prayer (Matthew 6:1-15), being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16), and not being afraid or ashamed to identify with Christ (Luke 22:31-71).

 

Students broke up into their small groups after the lesson on prayer and were asked questions about the passage. They were then encouraged to evaluate their personal prayer lives. 

 

Following the lesson on salt and light, students teamed up to create 1-2 minute skits on what it means to be salt and light. They were very creative and entertaining! 

 

Students were challenged to not be afraid or ashamed to identify as a Christian after covering the passage where Peter denies Christ. 

 

All youth messages are posted on the church website under the Youth Ministry tab.

 

Operation Christmas Child

Time is running out to pick up your box and fill it with goodies for the Operation Christmas Child boxes! The flat boxes and accompanying information will be on the table at the back of our worship area on Sundays and in the daytime women’s Bible study.

 

In the past, we’ve had the goal of 50 boxes and we hope to be able to do that again this year. The boxes are due back to VGC on Sunday, November 13th. Please bring them with a rubber band around them with the $7 needed to cover their costs of processing. 

 

The flyer that is available next to the flat boxes has lots of great gift ideas that are safe, small enough to fit into a box, and appropriate for a boy or a girl of various ages.

 

If you have any questions, please let the Vista Sisters Daytime Bible Study know. You can also contact Sheryl Stewart directly at 505-803-1510.

 

Thank you for supporting this mission to get the Gospel message to the children around the world! For more information on Operation Christmas Child or on Samaritan’s Purse, please visit their website: https://www.samaritans purse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/. 

 

Ministry Spotlight

Vista Sisters Women’s Ministry

 

Calling all women of VGC to join us for study, fellowship, and fun! What began as a brainstorming discussion of what women in VGC need and want, turned into a resurgence of an organized women’s ministry!  By vote at our October breakfast fellowship, we have named ourselves Vista Sisters. We hope anytime you hear this name, you’ll know our ladies are up to something and you’ll want to be a part of it!

 

Here’s what we heard you want:

 

1. Bible study for women both during the day and in the evening.  We scheduled the study, offering it twice a week. Come on Tuesday mornings at 10 a.m. or on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. to study, discuss, and learn about the Tabernacle  –“A Women’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place” study by Beth Moore.

 

2. We chose the word “Dwell” for our focus – Ephesians 3:17-19. As we study and go deeper, our desire is for Christ to dwell in our hearts and know His love.

 

3. Fellowship and Fun, time to visit and get to know one another more than we can on Sunday mornings. So we invite you to join us the second Saturday of each month for food, devotional, speaker, games = fun! Each month has a theme and the program varies from hosting speakers to playing games—always with food!

 

4. Serving together, making a difference. We support a couple of the ministries which are also supported by the church body – The Forgotten Initiative and Feed the Kids. Our intent is to look first at how we can support these ministries already established rather than begin another ministry and spread our resources too thin.

 

5. Supporting one another through the good times and challenging times. We pray for everything! We pray with one another and for one another. We look first in our group for the physical ministry of meals, visits – whatever need there is.

 

Join us anytime! Our next breakfast is Saturday, November 12th, at the East Mountain Campus, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.  We’ll enjoy waffles and then hear Connie Dixon of the Women’s Missions Baptist Convention Office speak and show crafts made by women around the world. (Great Christmas shopping ideas!)

 

Questions? Contact Anna Buster, Karla Davis, Christie Lord, or Sheryl Stewart.

 

Fall 2016 LIFE Groups

Our LIFE groups are small groups for fellowship and discipleship. We help each other follow Christ together. In small groups, each member enjoys Christian fellowship as we serve one another in love. Please contact Pastor Charles if you would like to start a LIFE Group.

 

There are currently 8 LIFE Groups being offered this Fall:

 

· Hayden LIFE Group: led by Pastor Charles @ Hayden home, Mondays @ 6pm-8pm

 

· Women’s morning LIFE Group: led by Sheryl Stewart @ EMC*, Tuesdays @ 10am-12pm

 

· Prayer LIFE Group: led by Martha Woodfin at her home, Wednesdays @ 3:30pm-5pm

 

· Women’s evening LIFE Group: led by Karla Davis @ EMC*, Wednesdays @ 6pm-7:30pm

 

· Hope Ahead LIFE Group: led by Sara Ghormley @ Vineyard Church, Wednesdays @ 6:30pm-8pm

 

· College & Young Careers LIFE Group: led by Mike Harding @ Harding home, Wednesdays @ 6:30pm-8pm

 

· Teen Girls LIFE Group: led by Emily Harding @ EMC*, Thursdays @ 7pm-8pm

 

· Teen Guys LIFE Group: led by Mike Harding @ EMC*, Thursdays @ 7pm-8pm

 

*Location subject to change

 

Prayer Requests

 

· James Bartz Jr. and family: he’s off of his ventilator at night, praise God!

 

· Tina Farber: finished chemo, pray for a good  report and healing

 

· Tito Manzanares: experienced severe side effects from chemo, doctors looking for alternative

 

· Bryan and Judy Folk: battling sicknesses on and off for several months

 

· Larry Harlan’s mother: in the hospital in Phoenix for tests

 

· Gayle DeRose: shoulder surgery went well, pray for continued healing

 

· Jimmie Norris: surgery went well, pray for continued healing

 

· A-frame renovation

 

November Calendar Event Details

       · Nov 2, 16—Feed the Kids, 10am-12pm @ First Baptist Tijeras Fellowship Hall

 

· Nov 5—Men’s Breakfast, 8am-10am @ East Mountain Campus

 

· Nov 6—Daylight Savings Time Ends

 

· Nov 6— Sunday Worship, 9am-11am @ VGCC

 

· Nov 6, 13, 20—Youth Service, 5pm-7pm

 

· Nov 8—Election Day

 

· Nov 8—Winter Jam, 6pm-11pm @ Santa Ana Center in Rio Rancho, $10 per ticket

 

· Nov 12—Women’s Breakfast, 8:30am-10:30am @ East Mountain Campus

 

· Nov 13, 27—Sunday Worship, 9am-11am @ A-frame

 

· Nov 13—Operation Christmas Child Boxes due!

 

· Nov 20—A-frame Dedication Service, 9am-11am @ A-frame

 

· Nov 20—Church-wide Thanksgiving Potluck, 1pm-3pm @ A-frame, bring a dish to share, sign-up sheet coming soon!

 

· Nov 24—Happy Thanksgiving!